Blogs

Pop into any Harrow library and you'll find entry forms for our Poetry Competition. Why not enter and have the chance to perform at Harrow Art Centre as well as having your poem exhibited in all Harrow libraries.

Poetry can be found where you least expect to find it. This year's Limmud Conference in Harrow boasts an exceptional line-up including Holocaust survivors, a prison chaplain, a discussion on whether luck has a role to play in life and nestled amongst these sessions you'll discover a poetry performance and also a poetry competition.

Last Thursday evening I had the great pleasure of sitting on the judging panel of the Barnet Regional Final of the Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Challenge. I found the experience to be mesmerising, inspirational and a timely reminder as to why we should nurture and value our youth as the ambassadors of the ”Better Tomorrow” that we all so frequently advocate and dream about.

After many years of deep soul searching and various life experiences, I finally discovered a pathway to becoming the very best version of myself. It is now my pleasure to share some of these very simple tips with you in the hope that they will help you to establish for yourself a pathway to becoming the very best version of YOU!

Age UK Harrow are pleased to announce the refurbishment of its existing confernce room facilities to transform it from a drab, boring, old 1960's room into a state-of-the-art, dynamic mult-function learning facility for the silver surfers. Bipin Dattani, one of Age (UK)'s Trustees gave up his weekend to supervise and carry furniture up 3 floors to the Age (UK), Harrow office after the lifts stopped working. Bipin ensured that the legacy left by Mr. Richard was utilised to help Harrow's older population learn IT Skills.

Welcome to Age UK Harrow's new and regular Blog. I will be sharing information with you about our members, staff, volunteers and projects. I would like to start this week’s Blog to tell you about our Star Trustee and volunteer Ann Groves.

May is the host of National Vegetarian Week which is taking place between 19th and 25th May. This got me thinking about some of the veggie friendly ingredients we use at Incanto which are perfect to include in home cooking.

With St George’s Day just around the corner, it got me thinking about the wonderful English ingredients currently in season featured on our spring menus. Here are a couple of my favourites for this month.

I was very pleased to welcome six new police officers to Harrow on Monday. I spent time with them spelling out my expectations and sharing with them the issues facing us in Harrow. These are the first of the extra officers being posted to our Borough which will see our numbers rise considerably over the next few months. They have all been posted to Safer Neighbourhoods Teams and are already out fighting crime!

The tragic event in Woolwich is still at the forefront of people's thoughts and the police investigation is well underway. Harrow's community stands united in condemning this act of violence. I want to assure you that your police, here in Harrow, are doing everything possible to make sure that you are all able to go about your normal business in a safe and secure way. Together we can ensure that Harrow is not touched by any of the behaviour we have seen elsewhere. Catching burglars is a number one priority for us. We arrested three men on suspicion of burglary after a receiving an early morning call from a resident telling us that she could hear voices at the back of her house in Norman Crescent, Pinner. Officers arrested one man at the scene. His two accomplices fled across an open field before being arrested, in a nearby block of flats, after witnesses tipped off police who were chasing them. We charged all three with attempted burglary. This is another great result and shows that the community and police won't tolerate criminal behaviour and are working together to fight it. We've received a few reports recently of garden sheds being broken into. Thieves know that there are 'rich pickings' to be got from sheds and out-buildings and are after expensive garden tools and bicycles to sell on. Please make sure that you lock your sheds and out-buildings securely with good quality locks. Three high-value cars, stolen this week all on the same night, were as a result of the keys being left near the front doors of the premises. Thieves forced a front door, at one of the addresses, which hadn't been secured properly and took the car keys which had been left on the window sill. At the other address, which showed no signs of the door being forced, we suspect they used a tool which they pushed through the letterbox to 'fish' the keys from a table near the front door. Please remember when you get home, put your car keys in a safe place away from the front door and where they are not seen through the letterbox.

The tragic events in Woolwich last week sent shock waves through all of our communities. Here in Harrow, one of the most racially diverse boroughs in London, it's understandable that there is concern from members of our community about their safety and the ramifications of such an event. I am overwhelmed by the support from the community for your local police. In particular, I was able to address all of Harrow's Councillors at their meeting in the Civic Centre last Thursday. I brought them up-to-date with events and explained to them all the action we are taking to provide reassurance in the community. They asked me lots of questions and offered me their support. Last Friday I also attended Harrow Central Mosque where I spoke to the entire congregation about what we are doing in Harrow. My message to you is, please carry on your normal business as usual and be reassured that the Metropolitan Police are doing everything within their ability to bring those responsible for this shocking attack to justice and to maintain peace and harmony in our community. It is at times like these when we are at our best in terms of community cohesion and mutual support.

Officers from Harrow's Safer Transport Team attended the Harrow Deaf Awareness Day organised by the Harrow Asian Deaf Club in partnership with Harrow Council. This was a great opportunity for PC Percy Sillitoe, who is level one British Sign Language trained, to put to good use his skills to communicate important crime prevention messages and to understand the barriers that deaf people face when coming into contact with the police.

I was invited to the official opening ceremony of Harrow Primary School in Gayton Road which is the first independent day school in Harrow with an Islamic ethos. I had a tour of the school and met with the school's founders, teaching staff and Head teacher. The facilities are impressive and the pupils and staff must feel very privileged to be working in such a positive environment.
We continue to see a decrease in the number of burglaries reported, however by no means are we complacent. Just as I am writing, a call came in from a Stanmore resident reporting that he had seen a man jump into his back garden. There were also reports of another man in the same area acting suspiciously. Colleagues from the Air Support Unit assisted officers on the ground who stopped and detained two men in Ennerdale Avenue matching the descriptions. They are now on their way to the police station for further questioning. A good job done by all.
And at court last week, a 24-year-old man received a two-year suspended prison sentence for carrying out a burglary in Wetheral Drive, in Stanmore. The man and an accomplice stole a flat screen TV from a house whilst a 15-year-old boy was at home at the time in his bedroom. The boy heard banging downstairs and just thought a family member had come home. It was only when the banging got louder and he heard someone running up and down the stairs that he became concerned and looked out of the window. He saw two men loading a flat screen TV into the boot of a taxi and immediately called police giving the registration number of the taxi. Acting swiftly on this information the officers located the taxi driver who took them to the address where he dropped the men off and arrested the defendant. A second suspect who ran off is still being pursued by officers.
A motorist was given an £80 fine by Sgt Roni Doyle of Pinner Safer Neighbourhoods Team for parking illegally outside West Lodge School in Pinner. Several parents had complained to us about this driver's inconsiderate parking and when PCSOs Walker and O'Brien spoke to him he was very abusive and refused to move his car. Sgt Roni Doyle issued the driver of the black Volkswagen Golf with a fine for abusing members of her staff. Parking restrictions are in place for reasons especially outside schools and in this case it was clear the driver of this vehicle was putting his convenience before that of the safety of school children.
Harrow's police cadets have been busy taking part in role play activities at Hendon Training School. Over 30 cadets were involved, enacting out scenes of burglary, criminal damage, drugs and public order offences to offer a realistic environment for trainee police officers which tested their knowledge. One trainee officer's diversity skills were put to the test when one of the young cadets refused to allow him to search her due to religious beliefs.
During the recent Bank Holiday weekend, the cadets were helping out at the May Day event at Heritage Museum in Pinner View. Harrow Council hosted the family event which was visited by several hundred residents. In addition to assisting with stewarding and collecting entry tickets the cadets seized the opportunity to promote the police cadets scheme to which fourteen new recruits signed up to. If you would like to find out more about becoming a cadet or cadet leader visit our website at www.met.police.uk

On Sunday,28th April we were invited to a Thanksgiving Reception in honour of the current Mayor of Harrow,Cllr NIZAM ISMAIL,at the Harrow Central Mosque.He will be handing over charge to the incoming Mayor later this month.Prayers were offered by the Imams of various mosques in Harrow.

I attended the AGM of the Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group last week and met with many of the ward panel members for the borough who so willingly give up their time to work with their Safer Neighbourhood Teams to tackle local concerns.

If you live in the North Harrow area, you may have noticed some extra police activity this week as officers from Headstone South Safer Neighbourhoods team have been holding a Week of Action. Lots of community engagement events have taken place with officers visiting schools to deliver crime prevention advice to pupils, especially around street crime and theft of mobile phones. The Volunteer Police Cadets have been manning crime prevention stalls, offering members of the public advice against bogus callers and how to protect their homes. Officers have also been visiting licensed premises to check they are following the conditions of their license and officers on bicycles have been carrying out extra patrols in burglary hot-spot areas. Safer Neighbourhoods teams are dedicated to your community to find out who your team is go to www.met.police.uk/Site/saferneighbourhoods

I have attended many meetings over the last few months with community groups, Harrow Council, Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group (HPCCG) and other partner agencies where I have explained the future plans for policing in Harrow and have made it clear that the number of police officers is set to increase from the current strength of 324 to 385. I also outlined our plans for the police estate. Wealdstone is set for closure and disposal which has been in the planning for many years; Pinner Police Station is an integral part of our infrastructure for the delivery of our Local Policing Plan and there are no proposals in the short or medium term for its closure or disposal.

Last week we celebrated the first anniversary of Harrow's Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) which was set up especially to help vulnerable young people in the borough. The essence of the MASH is to bring key, safeguarding professionals together, to ensure that the most vulnerable young people across the borough get the best possible care. Harrow was one of the first boroughs in London to establish a Multi Safeguarding Hub; a unit consisting of police officers, police staff, social workers, health and drugs workers working under one roof, to ensure that important information relating to young and vulnerable people is shared effectively between all the agencies and acted upon quickly. The concept of this partnership approach has proved to be invaluable and we look forward to further successes in the coming years.

Inspector Aiden Whelan has nominated PCSOs Diane Harris and Robert Chidgey from Greenhilll Safer Neighbourhoods Team as officers of the week for assisting with the arrest of a man driving a car illegally and dangerously. PCSOs Harris and Chidgey concerns were raised when they pulled up alongside a Honda Civic waiting at traffic lights on Station Road, Harrow near Tesco and noticed an inordinate number of people within the car. They called for assistance from police officers before pulling the car over to the side of the road to speak to the driver. The officers told the driver to let the passengers out for their own safety and were astonished when six children and three adults, including the driver, piled out of the car. One of the children had been sitting in the footwell of the front passenger seat, hiding under the front passenger's legs. Had it not been for the sharp observations of these officers, the driver, who was arrested for numerous driving offences and had his car seized for driving without insurance, would still be driving dangerously around the streets of Harrow. Well done

My first full week in post as Acting Borough Commander, has been a whirlwind of meetings. The Metropolitan Police and Harrow are undergoing significant structural changes in preparation for the Local Policing Model which will be in place later this year. The objective of the new model is to improve the delivery of high quality policing services in a more effective and cost efficient way, in order to become the best police service in the world. I am confident that Harrow has a great management team in place, capable of delivering this model on the borough.

I feel a great sense of privilege and pride to be Borough Commander of Harrow following Dal Babu's retirement from the Met Police last week. I will be carrying out the role in a temporary capacity, until Chief Superintendent Simon Ovens arrives to take up his position on a permanent basis. Harrow's new Deputy Borough Commander is Acting Superintendent Ben Honey.

This is my last week at Harrow Borough and I must admit that as I write this blog I have mixed feelings - on the one hand I think I will be leaving the best job in the world, whilst on the other hand I am looking forward to being able to spend more time with my two beautiful daughters, Shanti and Suraiya.

Last week I mentioned a card and courier scam that is doing the rounds at the moment, and still seems to be catching out members of the public, particularly the elderly. Please don't be fooled by someone calling you up, pretending to be from your bank and saying that there have been some fraudulent transactions on your account. This message in itself is not unusual, sometimes banks do notify us if they believe our accounts have been compromised, however it's the next step of the scam where the danger lies. The caller then asks you to key in your PIN and tells you that they will send a courier to your home address to collect your card for them to destroy. Once the fraudster has your PIN and collected your card, they spend your money! Please don't be fooled, banks will NEVER ask you to reveal you PIN and if they believe your card had been used fraudulently, they will tell you to destroy it yourself, at home. Please pass this information onto elderly family members, friends and neighbours to raise their awareness of this scam.

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